WELCOME, THIS IS NOWHERE, 2024, installation in public space of Belgrade
The paper factory of Milan Vapa in Belgrade, today a cultural monument and widely known as the Jugošped Building (built from 1921 to 1924), celebrates exactly 100 years of its existence this year. Symbolically or not, during this anniversary, over 50 visual artists and many musicians who have used the Jugošped spaces as art studios and music studios since 2021 were forced to leave this building. The installation Welcome, This Is Nowhere consists of a collection of 20 former office doors removed from the doorframes of abandoned studios and former music studios in this building. On some of the door panels, simple sentences have been applied, which, through phrases, slogans, views, questions, or comments, encourage the thoughts of passersby and visitors about the reality of the space they are in. Meanwhile, ten doors out of twenty have been left in their original condition.
Installation Welcome, This Is Nowhere part of the project Working Spaces in the 60th October Salon (Belgrade bienalle) – Trace curated by Dobrila Denegri and Lorenzo Balbi. Working Spaces is set in and around KCB pavilion on Cvetni trg in Belgrade together with works of Nina Ivanović, Lidija Delić & Marija Šević.
Nemanja Nikolić
WORKING SPACES
The project titled Working Spaces re-opens the question of the lack of dedicated space for artistic creation in Belgrade and, as a proposal for solving this multi-decade problem, it initiates an activity of collecting funds for the construction, buying, or long-term lease of an adequate building or plot of land that would be used to this end.
For a number of years, art scene actors have been trying to direct the attention of the city authorities and competent agencies to the problem of the lack of adequate space for artists’ work, i.e., to identification of an adequate, institutional, and equitable solution for this problem. On the territory of the City of Belgrade, there is a large number of devastated, neglected, and unused spaces – factory halls, commercial buildings, storage facilities, army facilities, and other similar buildings – that could be adapted and given to artists for use with subsidised monetary compensation. This is the very way that some of the cities in the neighbourhood used to get a long-term solution for the problem of artistic studios. Their proposal for city and state property to be used in this way was submitted to the officials of the City of Belgrade and Republic of Serbia, but their responses have been negative thus far.
After three years, we are, together with more than 50 additional fine artists and a great number of musicians, once again forced to leave our rented spaces in the “Jugošped” building and to endeavour on yet another search for the necessary working space. The unsustainable and unacceptable position that we are in forced us once again to try and give impetus and momentum to the already initiated actions and issues. We believe that it is time for а new activation of solidarity, cooperation, joint action, and connection among not only our art scene colleagues and art institutions and associations but also wider public and private initiatives so as to support art production and the painters, sculptors, graphic artists, and new media artists making art. With the aim of finding partners and a common way to secure spaces for our studios in the long run, we hereby initiate a joint campaign – Working Spaces!
The place of gathering is the Kiosk at the Flowers’ Square. This would be our info pop-in, space for work, contemplation, conversation, planning, and action.
Lidija Delić, Nina Ivanović, Nemanja Nikolić & Marija Šević